Mai Chau valley is some 160km south-west of Hanoi, in Hoa Binh Province. It has long been a top tourist destination because of the beautiful scenery which is made up of limestone outcrops, deep valleys, rugged hillsides and picturesque villages. During four hours on the motorbike, you will ride up wonderful limestone mountains, pass lush rice paddies and endless sugar cane plantations, and ride through some small villages. This off-the-path destination offers an amazing combination of cultural immersion and pleasurable activities. Besides, the beautiful and peaceful Mai Chau has clean and fresh air, this is really a place where a simple and slower paced lifestyle is enviable. Get ready and take a trip with Motorcycle tours Vietnam to explore Mai Chau valley.
Day 1: Ha Noi - Mai Chau - Hang Kia village
After breakfast, we will depart from Ha Noi to Hoa Binh province and the town of Mai Chau. We ride for four hours passing the fields of tapioca and sugar cane as well as rice paddies. The population in Mai Chau is nearly 56.000 people with a mixture between the Muong and the Thai people, these two ethnic groups mostly live in the wooden houses on the stilts make Mai Chau valley a beautiful land and rich in culture.
After lunch with traditional Thai’s cuisine in the stilt house, we ride for one hour to Sa Linh Village to begin our trekking. Walking along gravel tracks and small paths used by the locals is the shortest and the safest road to get to Hang Kia village. As night falls, we visit the Hang Kia village - the home of the H'mong minority people and spend one night in a traditional long house of an H'mong family.
Day 2: Hang Kia village - Van village
Today, we trek through the tropical rainforest, follow the local routes and go over cornfields as we descend into Mai Chau valley,trulygo off the beaten track. Along the way, we will see a lot of local villagers doing their daily business: farming in the fields, logging or herding buffalo.
The trek usually takes around 7 hours and is quite steep in places. Quick lunch will be provided at lunch break, and if the weather is nice, we can hold a small picnic near a babbling brook at the foot of the valley. From here we will go through several White Thai villages and are sure to attract attention because very few visitors come to this part of the country.
By late afternoon we head to Van village and spend some time to walk around this charming little village, understand a little more about how locals’ daily live like. The Thai people live in Van village, and tonight we will be their guests in one of their traditional stilt houses. Take your chance to sample some of their homemade rice wine!
Day 3: Van village - Khoe - Ha Noi
After breakfast, we ride for a couple of hours passing through several more Thai hamlets. When we get to Khoe we leave the motorbikes in the village then we walk on the valley floor and are surrounded by rice paddies and beautiful scenery. On return to the village, we ride back to Mai Chau. Enjoy lunch in Lac Village and there is also the chance to do a little souvenir shopping before we return to Ha Noi.
Roads to Mai Chau is ideal for motorcycle touring. Vietnam motorcycle tours will take you there on small countryside roads which offer the beautiful scenery and the reality of the hill tribes’ daily life.
